docs(agent): #131 remodelled — truncation is not the Acer's problem

Bernardo saw the Recovery labels ellipsize on a 2560x1440 external, which
falsifies both halves of this item's model (width: 40% + Inter 11 →
"only below ~1920, confirm on the Acer"):

- text menus render through themes/<slug>/rofi.rasi, and boreal (his) +
  neon-glass pin `width: 620px` — fixed, so a wide panel buys nothing;
  the other seven use 40%. launcher.rasi's 780px is a red herring (it
  themes -show drun only).
- the font is whatever that file sets — boreal GeistMono 11, summer/
  kanagawa JetBrainsMono 14, nord/lumon/retro-82 13 — mostly MONOSPACE,
  much wider than the Inter the item measured. Only the generated theme
  follows fonts.ui.
- so the modelled 40% + Inter 11 is shipped by no theme, and truncation
  is most theme x monitor pairs, not an edge case.

Measured for boreal (9.33px/char off kitty at the same font/size, 518px
room): 3 of 4 rows cut, "What changed" fits — "some of the submenus",
exactly as reported.

Names the decision instead of taking it: fitting the narrowest combo we
ship (40% @ 1366 + JBMono 14) is ~39 chars, which cannot hold scope AND
cost — so "just shorten the labels" would gut #111 for everyone on a big
screen. Options: (a) width in `ch` so the window scales with the font
(fixes the class, 9 theme files), (b) cost to a rofi -mesg line, (c)
shorten and lose the hint.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

agent/BACKLOG.md

@@ -156,15 +156,60 @@ pairings only, never GTK widget surfaces. `[human]` for the aesthetic call.
 ### 131. Recovery cost labels truncate on 1366-wide panels
 
 #111 gave Recovery scope-first labels that carry the cost inline — "Desktop
-generation — themes & home config (instant, reversible)" (462px in Inter 11)
+generation — themes & home config (instant, reversible)" and "System boot
-and "System boot generation — older NixOS (reboot, then pick in boot menu)"
+generation — older NixOS (reboot, then pick in boot menu)". They ellipsize,
-(509px). The picker is `width: 40%`, so text room is ~668px at 1920 (fits)
+**and the cost hint is exactly the part that gets cut**.
-but only ~446px at 1366 — **both long labels ellipsize, and the cost hint is
+
-exactly the part that gets cut**. The Acer Aspire M5-481T (1366×768) is an
+**Observed 2026-07-16 (Bernardo, T14s on a 2560×1440 external), which kills
-active QA machine, so this is live, not theoretical. Options: shorten to
+this item's original model.** It said `width: 40%` + Inter 11 → truncation only
-"Desktop generation (instant)" and put cost in a rofi `-mesg` line, widen the
+below ~1920, "confirm on the Acer". Both halves were wrong, and a wide monitor
-picker for narrow screens, or let rofi wrap. Measured, not observed — the VM
+is where he saw it:
-renders menu geometry unfaithfully (see #132); confirm on the Acer.
+
+- **Width does not track the monitor.** Text menus render through
+  `themes/<slug>/rofi.rasi`, and the whole-swaps disagree: **boreal (his) and
+  neon-glass pin `width: 620px`** — fixed, so a 2560 panel buys exactly nothing
+  — while the other seven use `40%`. (`launcher.rasi`'s 780px is a red herring:
+  it themes `-show drun` only, as its own header says.)
+- **The font is not Inter 11.** A whole-swap's text menus use whatever that
+  file sets: boreal **GeistMono Nerd Font 11**, summer-day/night and kanagawa
+  **JetBrainsMono 14**, nord/lumon/retro-82 13, executive-slate Inter 13. Most
+  are **monospace** — far wider per character than the Inter the item measured.
+  Only the *generated* (non-swap) theme follows `t.fonts.ui`/`size`.
+- So the modelled combination — 40% + Inter 11 — **is shipped by no theme**,
+  and truncation is not an Acer edge case: it is most theme × monitor pairs.
+
+Measured for boreal, matching what he sees (GeistMono 11 ≈ 9.33px/char,
+measured off Kitty at the same font/size; text room ≈ 518px = 620 − 32 window
+padding − 28 element padding − 30 icon − 12 spacing):
+
+| row | chars | px | |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| Desktop generation — themes & home config (instant, reversible) | 63 | 587 | **cut** |
+| System boot generation — older NixOS (reboot, then pick in boot menu) | 69 | 643 | **cut** |
+| Files (BTRFS) — restore files or roll root (password + confirm) | 63 | 587 | **cut** |
+| What changed — the last few generations, side by side | 53 | 494 | fits |
+
+Three of four — "*some* of the submenus", exactly his words.
+
+**The decision this needs (`[human]`-ish), because the cheap fix is a trap.**
+Shortening labels to fit means fitting the *narrowest* combination we ship, and
+that is not boreal: `40%` at 1366 with JetBrainsMono 14 leaves ~444px ≈ **39
+characters** — which cannot hold a scope *and* a cost, so it would gut #111's
+whole design for every user on a big screen. Options, and this is Bernardo's
+call:
+- **(a) Size the picker in `ch`** (rofi supports it) — e.g. `width: 72ch` in
+  every rofi.rasi + the generated theme. The window then scales with the font,
+  so a 14pt mono theme gets a wider window and a label that fits by
+  construction, on any monitor. Fixes the class; costs one line × 9 theme files
+  (the parity tax, same shape as #141).
+- **(b) Keep labels short, move cost to rofi `-mesg`** — one line under the
+  prompt, full width, no per-row budget. Changes #111's "cost travels with the
+  row" premise.
+- (c) Shorten to ~39 chars — cheapest, and the one that quietly loses the
+  information #111 added.
+
+Whatever wins, **#132 stands**: the VM cannot judge this, so it needs a look on
+real hardware (boreal on the dev box is now a positive control — it truncates).
 
 ### 132. VM cannot judge rofi menu geometry